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American Cowboy is proud to be affiliated with A Home for Every Horse, a program dedicated to supporting equine rescues. Twice a year, A Home for Every Horse hosts the Equine Comeback Challenge, a competition that puts rescue horses in the spotlight and shows how they can be just as capable, trainable, and talented as any other horse. For the program, trainers are paired with unstarted rescue horses and given 90 days to work with them before competing at the Challenge in a trail class.

Tate Welch, Editor-in-Chief Bob Welch's son and the youngest competitor of the Challenge, was paired with PollyAnna. Watch their incredible run!

American Cowboy's associate editor covers a broad range of topics important to Western living—everything from trends that affect the industry and news reports to tips on finding the perfect saddle and planning the ultimate Western vacation.

At McQuay Stables in Tioga, Texas, the focus has long been on exceptional performance - both human and equine. But people close to owners Tim and Colleen McQuay know that underlying all the awards and accolades the couple's real focus has always been the love of the horse.

So, losing any horse would be hard. But saying goodbye to a great one pushed the difficulty to another level when Colonels Smoking Gun, known worldwide simply as "Gunner," lost his battle with laminitis on July 8. The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Hall of Fame inductee and $5 Million Sire was humanely put down after spending the last week at Equine Medical Associates in Pilot Point, Texas, under the constant care of Dr. John McCarroll.

Gunner was a horse for the ages. When he made his center-stage debut at the NRHA Futurity in 1996, the reining world fell in love with the diminutive sorrel with the floppy ears and white tail. After tying for the NRHA Futurity Open Reserve title as a 3-year-old, he went on win the US Equestrian Team Reining Championship in 2001. He was immortalized as a Breyer Horse and finished his career with earnings over $177,000.

The McQuays have owned Gunner since 2005, and in those ensuing years, his record as a sire elevated him to legendary status. His outstanding offspring include 2009 NRHA Futurity and 2010 Derby Open Champion, Gunnatrashya. Gunner has sired numerous Futurity and Derby finalists and champions, in both the Open and Non Pro divisions, including 2012 NRHA Open Futurity Champion, Americasnextgunmodel, 2012 NRHA Open Futurity Reserve Champion, Gunners Tinseltown, and 2012 NRHA Non Pro Co-Champion, Customized Gunner. Gunner has also sired Gunners Special Nite, winner of the individual Gold medal at the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

Attendees at the 2013 NRHA Derby who watched Jordan Larson ride HF Mobster (Gunner X Dun Its Black Gold) to the Open Championship and Mandy McCutcheon ride Always Gotyer Gunsup (Gunner X Always A Dunit) to the Non Pro Championship had no knowledge that the great stallion had already begun to suffer from the first signs of laminitis.

As the word spread of Gunner's demise, his owners immediately began to receive texts and calls from all over the globe, further evidence of the great stallion's popularity and impact. Tim McQuay noted, "We appreciate everyone who supported Gunner through his career--he had a great team. He will be laid to rest next to Hollywood Dun It on our farm. We will truly miss him."

Colleen McQuay added, Gunner was a sweet happy horse, and when I look at all he has given us I can only be grateful for the time we shared with him. Losing him leaves another hole in our hearts."

HRTV (R), The Network for Horse Sports, will add more diversified weekly equestrian programming to its schedule when it premieres a new series, Cowboy Country, beginning this Wednesday, July 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Cowboy Country is a half-hour show that will provide 26 entertaining weeks of programming to HRTV's slate. On a weekly basis, the show journeys into the heartland of the West through profiles on people and places that live the "Cowboy way."

The series celebrates the West through its people and places, giving viewers the true flavor of the West in a personal and intimate way. Cowboy Country reflects a lifestyle and culture that's exciting, interesting and engaging.

Wednesday's initial show entitled, "Cowboy Humour and Notables," will give viewers a glimpse of the wide-ranging subjects that will be highlighted each offering. It will feature the humor of cartoonist Ben Crane, famous cowboy John Ware, and a profile of "Women of the Range."

Sirius XM Radio and RURAL RADIO, L.L.C. today announced the creation of RURAL RADIO, a 24/7 channel devoted to providing a wide variety of programming for and about rural American life, the Western lifestyle, and agribusiness interests.

RURAL RADIO’s program schedule will provide a wide variety of original productions focused on agriculture, equine, hunting, fishing, western sports and living the country life.

RURAL RADIO, channel 80, will give SiriusXM listeners all over America, whether driving a tractor cab equipped with satellite radio or driving in city commuter traffic, an unprecedented connection to the rural community.

Every weekday, RURAL RADIO will deliver extensive information for the rural community in North America, including rural news, weather, and market reports during weekday hours as grain, livestock, and other commodity futures are being traded globally. Traders can tune in directly to reports from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. RURAL RADIO will also include audio from many of RFD-TV’s most popular shows focusing on rural news, crop, and agriculture reports, and up to the minute analysis that farm and agriculture producers need to make decisions, as well as light-hearted fare, such as the weekly Mollie B Polka Show and classic episodes and interviews from The Ralph Emery Show.

Veteran farm broadcasters Mark Oppold and Janet Adkinson, the current and incoming presidents of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) will anchor three daily, weekday shows—Commodity Wrap, Rural Evening News and Market Day Report, a live 5-hour daily program featuring reports from dedicated news bureaus located at the CME, Chicago Board of Trade, as well as from USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Additional daily ag-related programming will be provided through RMG’s strong affiliations with the leaders in rural America, including: Farm Journal Media, owners of AGDAY, U.S. Farm Report and AGRITALK, Meredith Corporation’s Living The Country Life, various state farm bureaus, and Ag PhD featuring the Hefty Brothers of South Dakota.

Equine enthusiasts will enjoy Horse Talk, a daily, one-hour call-in program that will showcase the leading clinicians and horse associations, and air live coverage from major horse shows that take place all around the world. Vets on Call, another interactive program, will be underwritten by Zoetis Animal Health, who will make its top veterinarians available to answer listener questions and calls on-air.

Western Sports will occupy a large block of programming on RURAL RADIO in late afternoon, in early evening hours, and throughout the weekends with the Western Sports Roundup (WSR). Hosted by Clint Adkins and Alexis Bloomer, WSR will cover Professional Bull Riding (PBR) and the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) events by interviewing the stars of each association and providing standings. WSR will also cover and offer results from all western sports including cutting, reining, roping, barrel racing and both professional and amateur level bronc-riding, including High School & College Rodeo news, as well as Little Britches and JuniorHigh competitions.

“SiriusXM’s coast-to-coast coverage gives us the ability to reach listeners nationwide. The line-up of programming we’ve developed and accumulated for this launch solidifies and expands our brand across North America. Rural is a way of life, and RURAL RADIO means listeners can tune into it from anywhere at any time,” said Randy Bernard, President/CEO, Rural Media Group, Inc.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The United Way has set up its temporary control center at the Goodwill Headquarters building in downtown Oklahoma City to assist with the distribution of PRCA merchandise to those affected by the recent tornadoes in Moore, Okla., and the surrounding areas.

Tornado victims will be able to come in and select what they need at no charge.

The PRCA donated 300 boxes of 2012 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo merchandise valued at approximately $30,000 to aid the people of Oklahoma. Assisting in the effort was the PRCA’s partners, the Lazy E Arena and Express-Lazy E based in Oklahoma.

“The PRCA is happy to be able to support our rodeo family and friends in Moore, Oklahoma City and all of the nearby areas which were affected by these tragic storms,” PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman said. “Oklahoma City is the site of one of our biggest PRCA events produced by Express-Lazy E – the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo – and we hope this donation will help those in need during this time of rebuilding.”